Life is beautiful and full of joy…

… well, mostly. The Jets and the Giants both won, but Big Blue’s win was much better than Gang Green’s. The Jets played a wretched game against the Kansas City Chefs, who would be the worst team in the NFL if not for the existence of the Detroit Lions, and had to come from behind to win. There were a few highlights, sure — some fantastic play from little Leon Washington, and an amazing catch by Coles for the winning touchdown — but the way Brett Favre was playing had me wondering if maybe the Dolphins would give us back Chad Pennington if we asked really, really nicely. The playcalling was also suspect. Last week Thomas Jones ran for almost 160 yards. The Chefs have the worst run defense in the NFL. So what did the Jets do? They came out throwing, throwing, throwing. Sigh. Sometimes I think Mangini gets too clever for his own good.

The Giants’ win over a tough Pittsburgh Steeler team was much more satisfying. Great hard-hitting game between two tough teams that are almost mirror images of each other. If you love defense, as I do, this was a game for you. The Steelers managed to shut down the Giants league-leading three-headed running attack, and stopped them repeatedly inside the ten, forcing them to settle for field goals again and again… but the Giants did at least keep Eli safe, while Big Ben was getting sacked repeatedly and making costly mistakes in the face of the relentless Giants pass rush. Even so, Pittsburgh seemed to have the game in hand until their long-snapper went out of the game with an injury, and his replacement hiked the ball five feet over the punter’s head for a game-tying safety. You could feel the momentum shift then, as the Giants’ offense finally came alive.

So the G-Men are 6-1 and have passed their first big test. Next week, the Cowboys.

As for the Jets… oh, god, next week it’s Buffalo, and the buzzsaw part of the schedule begins. If Brett doesn’t stop throwing to the other team, the rest of the season could be grisly.

Current Mood: null